Understanding the Leadership Challenges of First-Time ...

WHITE PAPER--Second in the Transitioning Into Leadership Series

Understanding the Leadership Challenges of First-Time Managers Strengthening Your Leadership Pipeline

By: William A. (Bill) Gentry, Paige Logan, and Scott Tonidandel

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Contents

Executive Summary

1

Introduction

2

What the Research Says: The Leadership Challenges FTMs Have

4

Practical Tips and Application: What Can Be Done

to Help FTMs Overcome These Challenges?

6

Adjustment to People Management/Displaying Authority

8

Developing Managerial & Personal Effectiveness

10

Leading Team Achievement

12

Ways Organizations Can Sustain Success

14

Conclusion

15

About the Research

16

About the Maximizing Your Leadership Potential Program

16

References

16

About the Authors

17

Follow Bill on twitter (@Lead_Better) and CCL (@CCLdotORG) and use #1stTimeMgr to continue the conversation online.

Executive Summary

An individual contributor or professional getting promoted into his or her first formal leadership position in an organization is one of the biggest and most difficult transitions for any leader. Far too often, the leader and the organization take for granted just how difficult that transition is. And the numbers prove it: 20% of first-time managers are doing a poor job according to their subordinates, 26% of first-time managers felt they were not ready to lead others to begin with, and almost 60% said they never received any training when they transitioned into their first leadership role.1 No wonder 50% of managers in organizations are ineffective.2 Their ineffectiveness may be the result of not realizing what they are getting themselves into when it comes to leading others, not being supported in their new leadership role, and not being given the opportunity for training and development early enough in their careers as leaders. Think of the time and money that has to be spent on replacing these ineffective leaders, not to mention dealing with the low morale and disengagement of employees working under these ineffective leaders. This inevitably hurts your leadership pipeline and may eventually hurt your organization's bottom line.

1. Presenting the 12 challenges first-time managers have, as found by researchers from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL?) and Davidson College.

2. Specifically providing detail with the three most-often mentioned challenges:

? Adjustment To People Management/ Displaying Authority

? Developing Managerial & Personal Effectiveness

? Leading Team Achievement

3. Offering ways for you to help first-time managers effectively deal with these challenges.

The information from this white paper will help you understand the perspective of first-time managers and the struggles they have. You can use the information to support first-time managers in the most difficult transition they have made so far in their careers, develop them as leaders, and ultimately, strengthen your leadership pipeline.

First-time managers have as much of a right for leadership development as others, but their voices, time and time again, go unheard. They want to do well but so often are struggling at making the transition from individual contributor or professional who does the work and does it well, to a leader who must continue to do the work and more importantly, leads others doing their work. Many first-time managers feel that no one understands what they are going through. So what can you do to help? Here's a simple and doable solution: Understand the struggles firsttime managers have and help them overcome the challenges relevant to their new leadership role. This white paper backs the effort by:

?2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 1

"Recently, I was promoted from within the organization to lead the department that I was a part of, now managing direct reports who used to be my peers. How do I best transition from former peer to new boss?"

"As my role transitions from one where I was responsible for my own work as a chemist to now being responsible for leading a team of chemists (in addition to finishing out the current project which I started previously) I find myself lacking the internal tools to effectively do my job. Before I was a good-to-excellent chemist. Now I am an OK chemist and OK manager. Further, many of the attributes which gained me recognition as a chemist are now hampering me as a manager."

Introduction

This is what it feels like to be leading other people for the first time in your life in organizations. These quotes from first-time managers (FTMs) give you a glimpse into the difficulties, struggles, and challenges that FTMs face every single day. Their technical savvy, the stuff that helped them get that promotion to management in the first place, won't fix everything anymore. They can't concentrate solely on their own work anymore. Now, they are the boss. Now, they have to understand, motivate, and meet the needs of others, many of whom they worked alongside with previously. And these difficulties, struggles, and challenges are not from just a few people. Many FTMs are part of the largest population of leaders in your organization right now: frontline managers in entry- or first-levels of management. FTMs are your next generation of leaders, the pipeline for the top leadership positions of your organization, and represent the leadership benchstrength of your organization. Clearly they are an organizational imperative to success. Yet, the numbers suggest they aren't treated that way. Consider these examples:

2 ?2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.

? Many FTMs are frontline supervisors at the entry- and first-levels of management. Though they have never managed anyone before, FTMs at these first-levels of management lead a majority of people in organizations (as much as two-thirds of the workforce3) and average about 10 direct reports, more than any other level of management whose leaders are more senior, seasoned, and experienced.4 This begs the question: Why are organizations giving first-time managers the most people on average to manage?

? In 2012, this largest population of leaders, frontline supervisors at entry- and first-levels of management, got the least amount of money and support in training and development dollars.5 More troubling, 58% of FTMs never get any sort of training to help them in their new leadership role in the first place.1 This begs the question: Why are organizations not adequately preparing people to lead?

No wonder so many FTMs feel hopeless, overwhelmed, and unsupported from the start. No wonder 50% of managers are ineffective in organizations.2

A change is needed. Thankfully, organizations are now starting to get the message: FTMs at entry- and firstlevels of management need training and development. In 2014, Bersin by Deloitte4 found that 29% of training budgets went towards first-level managers, which is the highest for any level of managers in organizations. That's great news. But deeper in the data, it's still the same old story. The amount of spending per participant for first-level managers is still much lower compared to the spending per participant at higher levels: companies tend to spend around twice as much per middle-level manager as they do a first-level manager and depending on the size of the company, spend anywhere between two times (small companies) to five times more (medium and large companies) per senior- and top-level executive as they would a first-level manager.4

Think about the costs in not preparing, not developing, and not providing training for your FTMs, your future leaders. They may become ineffective in their job and you eventually have to replace them. So what's the cost behind that? Granted, replacing one of your top executives--which some estimate around 15 to 20 times a person's salary, upwards of close to $3 million per executive2--probably is more worrisome than replacing a FTM. But if you are constantly replacing ineffective managers who are on the frontlines, those comparatively

small costs per leader can add up to extreme expenses rather quickly. A recent survey by DDI6 concluded that one in four organizations reported a loss in profit due to frontline leader failure. Furthermore, nearly 60% of their survey respondents indicated poor frontline leadership resulted in turnover of leaders themselves or their team members, 65% reported a loss of productivity and 69% reported loss of team member engagement, all due to poor frontline leadership.

What do these numbers suggest? Not preparing FTMs weakens the leadership pipeline and may hurt the bottom line of any organization. But you have the power to change that for your organization. How? Understand the exact challenges FTMs struggle with in their new leadership role. By knowing their challenges, you could then provide the right means, support, and resources, such as better (or more appropriate) training initiatives and developmental opportunities so FTMs can overcome their challenges and be better leaders. Think of the difference you can make in the lives of FTMs, the costs you can save your organization, and how your leadership pipeline will strengthen.

Fortunately, what follows will help FTMs and support your organization's succession plan. We first present the challenges FTMs have that our research uncovered. We then offer several ways to help and support FTMs in overcoming the challenges unique to their transition into leadership.

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?2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 3

What the Research Says: The Leadership Challenges FTMs Have

Thousands of leaders around the world have come to CCL to attend the three-day Maximizing Your Leadership Potential (MLP) program. Our research on actual FTMs who attend MLP can give you insight into the most-often cited challenges FTMs have in their new roles as leaders in their organization.

As part of their pre-work before attending MLP, FTMs were asked what their three biggest leadership challenges are in their current role and they typed in their answers into the pre-program forms. The actual words provided by each FTM were content analyzed and coded into categories by researchers from CCL and Davidson College. Table 1 shows the 12 challenges that emerged from the data in order of frequency mentioned, and Table 2 displays the definitions of each.

Table 1 The Leadership Challenges FTMs Have

Challenge

Frequency (% of FTMs that Mentioned Challenge)

Adjustment to People Management/Displaying Authority

59.3

Developing Managerial & Personal Effectiveness

46.1

Leading Team Achievement

43.4

Managing Internal Stakeholders & Politics

33.9

Motivation of Others

27.1

Performance Management & Accountability Issues

24.1

Coaching, Developing, & Mentoring Others

21.4

Communication

17.6

Delegation & Micromanagement

17.6

Conflict Management

15.3

Working With a Range of Employees

14.2

Doing More With Less

5.4

4 ?2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.

Table 2 Definitions of the Leadership Challenges FTMs Have

Adjustment to People Management/Displaying Authority--Any expression of difficulty establishing or asserting one's authority. Difficulties associated with moving from a coworker to a superior and gaining respect while maintaining established positive personal relationships. Adapting to the new responsibility that comes from moving from individual contributor to a manager. The ability to influence, manage, and coordinate employees that are not in one's direct line of authority.

Developing Managerial & Personal Effectiveness--Concerns with becoming a better leader while still being a productive employee, including: time management; stress management; relationship management; acquiring leadership skills; acquiring job-specific skills specific to one's industry or organization.

Leading Team Achievement--Providing guidance to one's team and leading the team especially when directions or goals/ expectations are unclear. The ability to give directions to team members and monitor the team's work in order to stay organized and meet deadlines. Building a team. Team chemistry.

Managing Internal Stakeholders & Politics--Asserting one's opinion to upper-level management or superiors including speaking for one's own subordinates or department. Gaining visibility with upper-level management. Gaining an understanding for an organization's corporate structure, and of the organizational culture and/or organizational politics. Navigating a change implemented by the organization for oneself as well as for the team/direct reports.

Motivation of Others--The ability to motivate others, both direct and non-direct reports. This includes inspiring all subordinates in general to complete assigned work as well as encouraging others to go above and beyond expectations or put in more effort than the minimum requirement. Understanding what motivates others and being able to motivate without monetary incentives.

Performance Management & Accountability Issues--Overcoming any reluctance or lack of comfort giving feedback about poor performance to subordinates. Holding subordinates accountable for their actions. Effectively dealing with employees who are lacking in ability, knowledge, or experience.

Coaching, Developing, & Mentoring Others--The act of developing subordinates' knowledge, skills, and abilities. Mentoring and coaching team members specifically pertaining to their overall career development.

Communication--The ability to communicate with people of all levels within the organization, including team members, superiors, and peers or additional work streams. Not only keeping lines of communication open, but also figuring out ways to communicate in order to achieve the best outcome. Effectively communicating goals and/or expectations with subordinates and superiors.

Delegation & Micromanagement--Ability to identify what tasks have to be done by oneself versus what tasks can be given to subordinates. Knowing when to interfere or provide assistance to team members without micromanaging or taking over a task. Giving up control (for example, the mental adjustment from wanting to complete all tasks individually to allowing others to take ownership of work). Trust and comfort with others doing work that FTMs will ultimately be responsible for.

Conflict Management--The ability to proactively manage or reactively resolve conflict between group members. Identifying and addressing smaller issues before they turn into larger conflicts and mitigating conflict once it occurs. The ability to deal with confrontation and/or resistance from team members.

Working With a Range of Employees--The ability to effectively work with and lead employees that have different opinions, personalities, and skills/abilities than oneself. Being able to adapt behavior based on the ways in which different people work.

Doing More With Less--Difficulties related to a lack of necessary resources including budgeting and staffing issues or the ability to perform despite these limitations.

?2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved. 5

As you can see, these challenges vary in scope. Some are challenges leaders at all levels of the organization face,7 but some are very unique to FTMs, ranging from working with others, working within a system of an organization, to a FTM's own personal improvement. Three were mentioned by at least 40% of FTMs and will be our primary focus for the rest of this paper: Adjustment to People Management/ Displaying Authority (mentioned by 59.3% of FTMs); Developing Managerial & Personal Effectiveness (mentioned by 46.1% of FTMs); and Leading Team Achievement (mentioned by 43.4% of FTMs).

Practical Tips and Application: What Can Be Done to Help FTMs Overcome These Challenges?

Now that you know the challenges FTMs have in their first leadership role, what can you do to help? First, the sidebar below describes a mindset that FTMs can adopt to be successful. Second, we provide insights into each of the top three challenges FTMs face, and offer help and advice to pass along to your FTMs so they can deal with or overcome those challenges.

The Mindset FTMs Need

Not only do you need to know the challenges FTMs have, you must also know the mindset they need in their new leadership role, and help them adopt it. The first white paper in the Transitioning into Leadership series, "It's Not About Me. It's Me & You.": How Being Dumped Can Help First-Time Managers, discussed the mindset FTMs need to be successful: "It's not about me. It's me & you." In short, a FTM's focus has to (1) shift and (2) expand. First, the focus must shift: a FTM's focus must move away from "me" and "my" abilities that got the promotion into management in the first place and shift towards the joy, satisfaction, and engagement that come with learning to be a leader and taking part in leadership development

opportunities. Second, a FTM's focus must expand: a focus on "you"--the people FTMs lead and serve-- must now be included and integrated. When FTMs expand their focus on "you" they become accountable and responsible for the success of the people they lead and serve. So, help FTMs understand that to be successful, their mindset must change. Encourage them to put less emphasis on "me" and "my" abilities that set "me" apart from everyone. Help them shift their focus to being engaged in the process and finding their own joy in learning about leadership. Help them expand their focus to include "you"--the people FTMs lead and serve. "It's not about me. It's me & you."

6 ?2014 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.

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